Lou Lamoriello spent weeks trying to talk his superstar out of breaking his commitment to the Devils – and that, in itself, had to eat away at his soul.

This is a man who built an entire franchise around character and loyalty, one who loves to tell people that the team logo is on the front of the jersey and the name is on the back for a reason. Anyone who has spent time around him understand that this is not an act. He lives and breathes this stuff.

Now, here he was, trying to convince a player who signed a 15-year contract worth $100 million not to run back to Russia?

And not to do it just three years into that deal?

“I’ll let you answer that,” Lamoriello said when asked if he could take any positives away from his experience with Ilya Kovalchuk, and we’ll take that as a big, fat, resounding no.

Kovalchuk “retired” on Thursday, if you can actually “retire” and then sign an even more lucrative contract to do the same job on another continent. He is heading back to Russia to play in the KHL, and maybe in a few years, everyone will look back on this day and see that as a positive.

But today?

Today, it is an absolute disaster. The Devils went all-in on Kovalchuk when they acquired him in Feb. 4, 2010 trade with the Atlanta Thrashers. They gave up three players and their first-round pick in that draft to rent the high-scoring forward for the rest of the season.

Then, they signed Kovalchuk to a massive contract as a free agent that offseason, essentially picking him over fan favorite Zach Parise as the face of the franchise. Parise might not have left for free agency the following summer had they offered him that kind of money in an extension.

The contract to Kovalchuk, meanwhile, so infuriated the NHL for circumventing the salary cap that the league docked the team a first-round draft pick. The Devils had four years to forfeit that pick and, because they have yet to do so, will not have their top pick in the next draft.

So let that sink in: Not only are they rebuilding, but they’ll do it without the benefit of a top prospect that could have sped the process.

Parise is gone. Kovalchuk is gone. Even David Clarkson, a former 30-goal scorer, is gone after the Devils couldn’t match the free agent’s offer from the Toronto Maple Leafs, forcing the team to instead making a risky $24 million investment in concussion-addled Ryane Clowe.

Martin Brodeur, the star goaltender, is one year from retirement. Ownership is in a state of flux. The Devils have gone from two victories away from a fourth Stanley Cup in two summers ago to a freefall, and unless Lamoriello has a miracle ready, it’ll be a long road back up.

“I can’t worry about that right now,” Lamoriello said when asked if it was too late to add an impact player for next season. “It is what it is, and you go forward.”

The GM didn’t offer much in a 10-minute conference call on Thursday afternoon, but he couldn’t hide his frustration. It is one thing for a free agent to walk away from a team, as Parise and Clarkson have done in recent years. What Kovalchuk did is something else entirely.

Lamoriello defended the goal scorer when he told the Russian media that he’d rather stay in St. Petersburg after the lockout was lifted this winter, insisting that Kovalchuk was fully committed. And when Kovalchuk played in a KHL All-Star Game instead of showing up on time for the abbreviated training camp?

“I’m very comfortable,” Lamoriello said then, even when a few of his teammates, most notably the respected veteran Patrik Elias, seemed anything but.

Now Kovalchuk has turned his back on the Devils for good. Maybe that’ll end up being for the best, because he never completely bought into the Devils philosophy during his time here. He’ll have the easy life as an adored superstar in the KHL, with none of the demands that the Devils put on their players.

Meanwhile, Lamoriello faces what might be the biggest challenge of his career now. Can he keep the Devils from collapsing completely? And if not, how quickly can he rebuild the franchise amid ownership uncertainty and without that first-round pick in the upcoming draft?

This is as bad as it gets for the Devils, and that includes the thousands of fans who bought his No. 17 jersey. They must have thought it was safe to invest in the jersey of a player who had signed a 15-year contract. At least they’re not alone in feeling duped today.